Facility and resource access system

ABSTRACT

A system that allows an end-user to locate and gain access to a private facility, such as a restroom or other resource, without requiring that the end-user interact with any facility personnel. A mobile application allows a user to identify and proceed to a location where a private facility is available. When a user arrives at the location, the mobile application communicates with access control devices at the location to notify facility personnel of the user&#39;s presence and unlock doors or otherwise remove safeguards preventing general public access to the private facility.

PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication 62/185,809, filed Jun. 29, 2015, U.S. provisional patentapplication 62/267,410, filed Dec. 15, 2015, and U.S. provisional patentapplication 62/309,987, filed Mar. 18, 2016, the disclosures of each ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The disclosed technology pertains to a system for providing a user withstreamlined access to a facility, or one or more resources within afacility, or both.

BACKGROUND

Travelers and locals want certainty, convenience and quality whensearching for a facility or service, such as a restroom or other kind offacility. In some instances, consumers may pretend that they arelegitimate customers in order to gain access to a retailer or hotel inorder to avoid using a publicly available facility, due to concernsabout cleanliness, maintenance, and safety. Over time, vendor locationssuch as coffee shops, cafes, gas stations, grocers, and other retailersin areas with heavy foot traffic may become “de facto” public restrooms.Allowing the general public access to private business facilities maycreate additional costs and risks, as well as concerns about controllingaccess without seemingly discriminatory policies, while giving theprivate facility no real benefit. Additionally, dealing with consumersthat are unsure if they are welcome to use a given facility or not maylead to repeated awkward interactions between consumers and vendoremployees, alienating potential customers and harming the efficiency ofemployees.

What is needed, therefore, is an improved system for managing consumeraccess to private facilities or resources in a way that is convenientand beneficial for both the consumer and the private facility owner orresource manager.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings and detailed description that follow are intended to bemerely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention as contemplated by the inventors.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary system configured tomanage access to a private facility.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary configuration ofdevices for managing access to a private facility.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a set of high-level steps that a system couldperform to manage consumer-user interactions with the disclosed system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a set of steps that a system could perform toallow a user to select a private facility for use.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a set of steps that a system could perform toallow a user to enter a facility.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a set of steps that a system could perform toallow a user to interact with a facility.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a set of steps that a system could perform toallow a facility owner to manage aspects of the disclosed system.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a set of steps that a system could perform toallow a system administrator to manage aspects of the disclosed system.

FIG. 9 is an example of an interface for viewing facilities.

FIG. 10 is an example of an interface for choosing a facility.

FIG. 11 is an example of an interface for signaling arrival at afacility.

FIG. 12 is an example of an interface for signaling the facility isavailable.

FIG. 13 is an example of an interface for enabling and accessing afacility.

FIG. 14 is an example of an interface for securing a facility duringuse.

FIG. 15 is an example of an interface for exiting a facility.

FIG. 16 is an example of an interface for providing facility feedback.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a set of steps that couldbe performed to provide employee access to a secured area.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of a set of steps that couldbe performed to provide scheduled visitor access to a secured area.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary configuration ofdevices for managing access to a parking facility.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an example of a set of steps that couldbe performed to allow a visitor to enter a parking facility.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an example of a set of steps that couldbe performed to allow a visitor to exit a parking facility.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventors have conceived of novel technology that, for the purposeof illustration, is disclosed herein as applied in the context of asystem for managing user access to a private facility, such as arestroom, resources at a private or public facility, or both. While thedisclosed applications of the inventors' technology satisfy a long-feltbut unmet need in the art of systems for managing access to a privatefacility, it should be understood that the inventors' technology is notlimited to being implemented in the precise manners set forth herein,but could be implemented in other manners without undue experimentationby those of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure.Accordingly, the examples set forth herein should be understood as beingillustrative only, and should not be treated as limiting. It iscontemplated that the teachings herein may be readily applied to variousother contexts, including contexts that do not necessarily involve arestroom or similar facility. The example of a restroom as a privatefacility is being provided herein as just one merely illustrativeexample.

As used herein, a “private facility” should be understood to include anarea or resource for which there is some restriction on the access oruse of Examples may include a restroom, a parking garage, an officebuilding, etc. A private facility may thus include an area with physicalaccess controls such as a room barred by a locked door; but may alsoinclude an area with “soft” access controls such as a parking space forwhich entry is not physically barred, but in which a person may not beauthorized to park except under certain conditions. Similarly, a privatefacility could be a room that is publicly accessible, but which containsresources that may have some restrictions placed on their use. Thiscould include tangible devices such as, for example, a phone chargingstation that is inoperable until activated by an authorized user or atire filling station that is inoperable until activated, but could alsoinclude more abstract resources such as a semi-automated ordering systemthat may be accessed by an authorized user to place an order for food ordrink, or a semi-automated system for requesting or reserving servicesthat may be accessed by an authorized user to reserve a dining table orparking spot. Private facilities may be permanently private, such as arestroom at a private establishment; or may only be temporarily private,such as a park or festival ground for which access is only controlledcertain weekends during a year as a result of certain events. In otherwords, an otherwise public facility may be rendered at least partially“private” when access to at least a portion of the facility is at leastpartially restricted for at least some period of time. The foregoingexamples of facilities are merely illustrative and are not intended tobe limiting in any way. Various other suitable kinds of facilities willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of theteachings herein.

Also as used herein, a “resource” should be understood to includehardware or other objects (e.g., a faucet, a toilet, a charging station,an elevator, etc.); people (e.g., a cashier, a person whom an invitee isscheduled to meet, etc.); and transactions (e.g., purchase of a cup ofcoffee or some other good, a request for service, etc.). The foregoingexamples of resources are merely illustrative and are not intended to belimiting in any way. Various other suitable kinds of resources will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachingsherein.

I. Exemplary System for Managing Access to a Secured Location

Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system configuredto manage access to a private facility. A user device (100) implementsor is in communication with a mobile service (102). The user device(100) may be a tablet, smart phone, laptop computer, desktop computer,smart watch, standalone kiosk, vehicle infotainment system, or otherdevice having similar or sufficient processing, storage, andcommunication capabilities. The mobile service (100) may be a mobileapplication, desktop application, website, web service, streamedapplication, virtual application, API, or other software or interfacesupporting similar or sufficient data handling and communicationcapabilities. The mobile service (102) supports user registration,subscription management and payment, geo-location, facility queuing,notifications, facility interactions, and facility feedback. Facilityinteractions may include, for example, unlocking or enabling a facility,or interacting with a feature or resource, such as turning lights on andoff, turning audio or video devices on or off, or other interactionsdescribed herein or apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art inlight of the disclosure herein. The mobile service (102) allowscommunication with a variety of third party services (122), as well aswith a cloud control platform (110). Third party services (122) mayinclude one or more third party systems, services, or devices, such aspayment processing, geo-location, real time syncing, issue management,survey management, advertisement management, analytics, accounting, andother similar services.

The cloud control platform (110) may have a number of modules groupingtogether related functionality. Cloud control platform (110) modules mayinclude a facility management module (112), a platform management module(114), and a customer management module (116), and other modules. Thefacility management module (112) groups functionality for one or morefacilities, such as interaction, configuration, and communication withdevices at a facility, facility monitoring, maintenance queuemonitoring, and facility queue monitoring. The platform managementmodule (114) groups functionality for managing the platform at a highlevel rather than for a particular facility or set of facilities, suchas control and distribution of pricing, user access and authentication,workflow management, event monitoring, and queue characteristicconfiguration. The facility management module (112) groups functionalityfor managing particular customers, such as account review andmanagement, subscription review and management, and payment review andmanagement.

The cloud control platform (110) is also in communication with an accesscontrol platform (118) and one or more third party services (122). Theaccess control platform (118) provides communication and interactionwith an access control device (120), with the access control device(120) itself being in communication with a set of one or more facilitycontrol devices (104). The access control platform (118) may be a systemand software that manages configuration and communication to a number ofaccess control devices (120), and which associates a number of facilitycontrol devices (104) with a number of access control devices (120). Theaccess control platform (118) may provide an API that can provide to andreceive information from other devices or software, such as the accesscontrol device (120) and facility management module (112). The accesscontrol device (120) may be a system and software, typically installedat a single facility or shared between a number of nearby facilities,which can send and receive signals to devices at a facility based uponinteractions with the access control platform (118). As an example, thefacility management module (112) could maintain a list of configuredcontrol devices (104) across all facilities. An administrator couldrequest a device status from a particular control device (104) at aparticular facility. The facility management module (112) would generatea communication and transmit the communication to the access controlplatform (118). The access control platform (118) could verify thelocation of the device, and determine which access control device (120)the facility device was in communication with. The access controlplatform (118) could forward the communication to the appropriate accesscontrol device (120), which would poll the status of the device (104) inquestion, and then return the response via the access control platform(118) to the facility management module (112).

The facility control device (104) may be one or more devices such as amobile phone, tablet, laptop computer, desktop computer, kiosk, or otherdevice having similar processing, storage, and communicationcapabilities. The facility control device (104) may have one or moremodules grouping functionality, such as a facility maintenance module(106), a facility control module (108) or other modules. The facilitymaintenance module (106) could include image capture capabilities, fordocumenting cleanliness and maintenance issues, maintenance checklistsand management tools, maintenance training videos and information, andmaintenance ticket creation, review, and management. The facilitycontrol module (108) could include branding configuration andmanagement, including the selection and display of branding materials,marketing configuration and management, including messaging, promotionaloffers, and partner offers, and access control functionality, includingthe ability to enable and disable facilities and devices, granttemporary access, activate a temporary access card or device, and otherfunctionality.

While FIG. 1 shows one possible configuration of systems, devices, andfunctionality, it should be understood that various differentconfigurations may be desirable depending upon a particularimplementation and desired result, such as maximizing speed orreliability by organizing components in a different manner, orminimizing cost by removing or combining components, with suchvariations being apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, in lightof this disclosure. It should also be understood that one or more of thesystems or components in FIG. 1 may have additional elements such aspower sources, storage devices, databases, communication devices, orother components necessary to perform the disclosed functions.Communication between devices may in some instances be wiredcommunication, such as Ethernet, fiber optic, USB, or other wiredconnection, but may also be wireless, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, radio,infra red, NFC, or other wireless connections, with the choice of aspecific connection between two devices being dependent upon theparticular implementation and environment of use.

Turning now to FIG. 2, that figure shows an exemplary configuration ofdevices for managing access to a private facility. While sharing somesimilarities with FIG. 1, this FIG. 2 is focused more on devices at aparticular facility itself, with some already described elements beingabstracted. It should therefore be understood that the components shownin FIG. 2 may overlap with the components shown in FIG. 1. For example,a set of remote systems (214) should be understood to be an abstractedview of cloud control platform (110) and 3^(rd) party services systems(122), while access control (210) should be understood to be anabstracted view of access control platform (118) and access controldevice (120), and facility devices (212) should be understood to be anabstracted view of facility control device (104), facility maintenancemodule (106) and facility control module (108). In the example shown inFIG. 2, the user device (100) communicates with the remote systems (214)directly, but does not communicate directly with the access control(210) or the facility devices (212). User device (100) may alsocommunicate with facility access panel (204) via short range wirelesscommunications such as Bluetooth, NFC, RFID detection, infrared, orother means. In the present example, the facility has a controlledentrance, a facility door (206), but it should be understood that notall facilities will have a facility door (206). For example, while arestroom facility may have a facility door (206), a tire inflationfacility may not. The facility door (206) may have installed nearby afacility access panel (204), automatic lock (202), automatic opener(200), motion detector (208), and facility user devices (216).

The automatic opener (200) may be installed with the facility door (206)so that when a communication is received from the access control (210)indicating the facility should be opened, the automatic opener (200) canactivate and open the facility door (206). The automatic lock (202) maybe installed with the facility door (206) so that when a communicationis received from the access control (210) the lock (202) can be latchedor unlatched as required. The facility access panel (204) may beinstalled near the door and communicate with the user device (100) toverify a user's arrival at the facility. Interaction between a userdevice (100) and access panel (204) may result in a communication to theaccess control panel (210) and, for example, cause the electronic doorlock (202) to unlatch and the door opener (200) to open the door.

The motion detector (208) may be installed near or within a facility,and may be used to detect the presence of someone within the facilitywithout compromising privacy in the way a camera might, or couldactivate lighting, air circulation, or other devices based upon motionwithin or near the facility by communicating with the access control(210). The facility user devices (216) may include a variety of devicesand fixtures, such as a vacuum cleaner, tire inflator, air conditioner,car wash soap and water sprayer, audio device, video device, computer,sink, shower or toilet water supply, soap dispenser, product dispenser,sample dispenser, communication device, Wi-Fi access point, chargingstation, power supply, massage chair, or other similar device. Facilityuser devices (216) may be enabled and disabled based upon acommunication from access control (210).

Using a restroom within a private vendor, such as a coffee shop, as anexample, a user device (100) could be placed within the proximity of afacility access panel (204). The user device (100) could retrieve aunique identifier or authentication code from a remote system (214) andcommunicate the authentication code to the facility access panel (204),which can communicate the authentication code to access control (210),verifying that the user device (100) is both present at the facility,and authorized to access the facility. With verification complete,access control (210) can unlatch the automatic lock (202), open thefacility door (206) via the automatic opener (200), and enable thefacility user devices (216), such as the water supply for the toilet andsink, the restroom lights, an air circulator, a television or radio, ora partner product sample dispenser. When the user exits the restroom,the user device (100) may interface with the facility access panel (204)to notify access control (210) that the facility is now empty, causingthe door opener (200) to close the door, the lock (202) to latch, andthe facility user devices (216) to be disabled. The motion detector(208) may provide verification that the facility is in fact vacantbefore closing and locking the facility, or may be used to triggeractions after a passage of time with no motion, in the event that a userexits the facility without activating the facility control panel, sothat the facility may be secured at all times when not in use.

The above described devices in communication with the access control(210) may also be actuated, enabled, disabled, triggered, or otherwisemanipulated via the facility devices (212) or remote systems (214). Forexample, a facility device (212) such as a tablet in possession of acashier may be used to manually unlock, open, or enable a facility toallow someone without a user device (100) to access the facility. Thiscould be useful to allow patrons, cleaners, technicians, inspectors, orothers access to the facility without requiring that they have a userdevice (100) configured with the mobile service (102). Such access couldalso be granted by way of activating a disposable card with an embeddedRFID or other indicator that can be detected by the facility accesspanel (204) to grant access. A temporary access card could be activatedvia a facility device (212) and configured to allow access a certainnumber of times, or over a certain period of time. Similarly, a remotesystem (214), such as the facility management module (112) couldcommunicate to access control (210) and trigger any of the devices. Suchfunctionality could allow the facility management module (112) toremotely grant access to a cleaner or technician without interruptingthe facility vendor's employees, could be used to disable all access toa facility in the event of a major maintenance need, or could be used totest the connected facility devices for operational status andperformance.

As with FIG. 1, FIG. 2 just shows one example of a possibleconfiguration of systems, devices, and functionality; and should beunderstood that various different configurations may be desirable, thatthe systems or components in FIG. 2 may have additional elementsnecessary to perform the disclosed functions, and that method ofcommunication will vary by implementation and environment. Inparticular, some facilities may not have a facility door (206), lock(202), access panel (204), opener (200), motion detector (208), orfacility user devices (216). A facility in a parking lot, such as a tireinflator, may not have any physical access restrictions (200, 202, 204,206), but may have a motion detector (208) and facility user device(216) to be activated. A restroom facility may have a facility door(206), but need not have a facility access panel (204) or opener (200).In this case, the user device (100) could use geo-location to indicatearrival at a facility, and automatically grant access to the facility,or could prompt a vendor employee via a facility device (212) tomanually grant access, or a user action via the user device (100)indicating presence at the facility could be communicated via a remotesystem (214) to access control (210) to grant access to the facility. Itshould also be understood that the system of FIG. 2 could be configuredfor use in both permanent installations as well as temporary/portableinstallations. This could be useful at an outdoor concert venue,fairground, worksite, farmer's market, or other area where temporarilydeployed, access controlled facilities may be useful. By way of exampleonly, a private facility as described herein may include a portablerestroom or similar portable structure where private access may bedesired. Other variations in method of granting access to a facility andhardware configuration and components exist and will be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure.

II. Exemplary Methods for Managing Access to a Secured Location

Turning now to FIG. 3, that figure shows a flowchart of a set ofhigh-level steps that a system could perform to manage consumer-userinteractions with the disclosed system. In this example, consumer-userinteractions with the system are primarily via the user device (100) andmobile service (102). In some versions, access to the mobile service andprivate facilities will be controlled be a user login (300) and mayinvolve a registration and subscription process prior to using thesystem. Once a user is registered and authenticated to use the system,or is otherwise able to use the system, the user may choose a desiredfacility (302). This could be accomplished via, for example, aninterface such as that shown in FIGS. 9-10, displayed via the userdevice (100). A user's current position (900) is shown, as well as oneor more nearby facilities (902) that a user can access. The name andlocation of the facility (904) may be displayed, as well as theavailability (906) of the facility to aid in a user's decision. Itshould be understood that FIGS. 9-10 are examples only, and that anyparticular implementation of the facility search and selection interfacecould have different features. For example, the example of FIG. 9 couldshow an indicator of the number of people queued at a location by usinga number, color, a size based indicator such as an icon that is scaledto be larger or smaller depending upon the number of people in a queuefor that facility, or another symbol, text, or visual identifier. FIG.10 could similarly display availability (906) in a variety of ways asdescribed above.

When a user arrives at a facility, the system allows a user to gainaccess (304) to the facility, via an interface such as that shown inFIGS. 11-13. A check-in button (908) allows a user to enqueue for thelocation while traveling to the location, or upon arriving at thelocation, depending upon the particular version. Location specificfeatures may be available, such as the ability to preorder (910) goodsor services from the vendor while traveling to the location or using thefacility. When both the user and the facility are ready for the user toenter, a message giving instructions for entering the facility (914) aswell as a time limit (912) for accessing the facility may be displayed.Additional controls may be displayed depending upon a particular versionand implementation, such as the ability to unlock a door via the userdevice (100) when a facility access panel (204) is not available orother semi-automated processes have not been implemented.

Once inside the facility, a user may have various interactions (306)with the facility, via an interface such as the one shown in FIGS.14-16. If the user desires, the facility door (206) may be locked (918)from the inside to allow uninterrupted use. Once use of the facility iscomplete, the facility door (206) may be unlocked or the system may benotified that a user is exiting (920). During use or upon exiting, auser may provide feedback on the facility, including overall experience(922), facility supply quality and quantity (924), significantmaintenance issues (926), or other feedback as desired and configured.

Turning now to FIG. 4, that figure shows a flowchart of a more detailedset of steps that a system could perform to allow a user to select aprivate facility (302) for use. When a user is logged in (300),authenticated, or otherwise able to use the mobile service (102), aninterface may be displayed via the user device (100) showing thedifferent types of private facilities (400) that a user may access.Types of facilities displayed (400) could include restrooms, showers,car washes, car cleaning stations, car maintenance stations, meetingrooms, internet cafes and lounges, telephone booths, charging stations,offices, study rooms, gyms, medical care providers, or other similarfacilities that may be available on a private vendor's property and thatthe vendor might wish to offer limited access to for a group of users. Afacility type selection is received (402) from the user via the userdevice (100) and communicated to the cloud control platform (110) andthird party services (122) in order to identify the user's currentlocation via geo-targeting of the user device (100) internet protocoladdress, GPS signal, signal triangulation, or other locating means, andto access a list of participating private facilities of the chosen typewithin a configurable distance of the user's current location.

Once a list of nearby participating private facilities of the selectedtype is available, the list is displayed (404) via the user device (100)and an interface such as the one shown in FIG. 9. A user selection of aparticular private facility is received (406) via the user device (100)in communication with the cloud control platform (110), and a facilitystatus is displayed (407) to the user for the selected facility via aninterface such as the one shown in FIG. 10. Facility status (407) mayinclude, for example, the distance between the user's current locationand the facility location, the number of other users waiting for thefacility, the name, type, street address, phone number, and otherinformation of the vendor hosting the facility, ratings and reviews forthe facility, special offers or promotions available at the facility, aswell as step-by-step navigational directions for reaching the facility.

In the present example, while a user is proceeding to a selectedfacility or upon arrival at a facility, a user may have the option tocheck in (408) for the facility in order to reserve their position inthe facility queue. If a user chooses to check in (408), the cloudcontrol platform (110) will reserve their position (410) in the queue sothat other users selecting to use the facility will be placed in thequeue behind users who previously checked in. In some versions, a user'sposition in the queue may be controlled by other factors such asproximity to the destination facility during travel, speed of travel,user account and subscription features, number of users in queue, totaltime a user has spent in queue, or another priority or position providedor configured by one or more users. If the user chooses not to manuallycheck-in via the user device (100), their position in the queue may notbe reserved until they arrive at the location and are checked in viaanother process.

Other features may also be available after a particular facility isselected. For example, vendor services or goods may be offered (412) bythe vendor hosting a facility, which can be requested via the userdevice while a user travels to the location or uses the facility, suchas in FIG. 11 where a user can pre-order coffee (910) while waiting forthe facility to become available. If a user chooses to pre-order goodsor services, a services request is received (414) via the user device,and communicated to the cloud control platform (110). Facilityselections (406), check in (410), and services (414) information maythen be communicated by the cloud control platform (110) to the facilitydevices (212) so that employees at the vendor location are aware thatusers may be arriving to use a facility, or that goods or servicesshould be prepared to coincide with the users' arrival. Not allfacilities or vendors may support checking in (408) or requesting vendorservices and goods (412) while traveling to a location, or even uponarriving at a location.

Turning now to FIG. 5, that figure shows a flowchart of a more detailedset of steps that a system could perform to allow a user to access afacility (304). Some facilities may be configured with hardware allowingthem to detect (500) the arrival of a user at a facility. This couldinclude automated communication between the user device (100) and theaccess control device (120) via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, or othercommunication means in order to either determine the user device's (100)presence at the facility or receive a signal from the user device (100),such as a GPS coordination, indicating presence at the facility, orcould include an additional manual step via the user device (100) tosignal arrival at the facility. When a user has arrived at the location,the vendor may be notified (502) so that any requested goods or servicescan be delivered, and so that the vendor is aware that someone may beaccessing the private facility so that awkward exchanges or questioningcan be avoided. If the facility is not immediately available (504) whena user arrives at a location, such as where another user is occupyingthe facility, or where one or more users are in the facility queue aheadof the recently arrived user, the user may affirmatively elect to jointhe facility queue via the user device and will receive regular statusupdates (506) via the user device indicating such information as numberof users in queue, estimated time till availability, and alternatefacility choices. When the facility does become available, the user andvendor may be notified (508) that the facility has become available sothat the user can proceed to the facility entrance, or so that thevendor may perform maintenance, cleaning, or supply stocking tasks.

While FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the technology where a user maycheck in (408) and reserve a position (410) from a remote location, suchas while walking towards a facility on city sidewalks, the technologydisclosed herein may also be used to implement an embodiment where auser selects a facility via an interface such as that shown in FIG. 10but does not remotely check in (408) or reserve a position (410).Instead, check in could occur automatically when the user actuallyarrives at the facility and is detected (500) based upon a GPScoordinate or a successful short range wireless transmission between adevice at the facility and the user device (100). Such an implementationmight be desirable in order to prevent speculative remote check in, suchas where a user might need to use the facility sometime in the nextseveral hours and reserves a position without any intent of proceedingdirectly to the facility. Such speculative queueing could reduce thesystem's ability to provide accurate wait times for other users of thefacility, and could lead to users that are present in the facility beingdelayed due to a user that is not at the facility or may never arrive atthe facility. By only allowing check in (408) and position reservation(410) after a user's arrival is detected (500) the chance of speculativequeuing is reduced, especially if the system were configured to detectwhen the user departs the location, based upon GPS or short rangewireless connection, and remove them from the queue.

When the user has arrived at the entrance of the facility, in some casesa facility door (206), either a manual access (510) or an automaticaccess may occur (514). Where a facility does not have the requiredhardware to enable automatic access (514), or where a user needsassistance, or is having some difficulty using their user device (100)to gain automatic access, a manual access (510) can manually enable thefacility devices, unlock and open the facility door, and providefacility access (512). Manual facility access will generally require theaction of a vendor employee, and may be granted by a facility device(212), such as a tablet used by an employee, by a kiosk placed behindthe counter, or by interaction with another device by an employee.Manual facility access may also be granted by providing a disposablecard or loaned device that may interact with a facility access panel(204) via RFID or other wireless communication and grant access to afacility. Such a card or device may be reusable a limited number oftimes, or may only be useable once until re-activated or recharged, ormay only be useable for a limited time frame beginning at the point thatit is first activated or first used. Manual facility access may alsoallow a person with no user device (100) to access a facility. Forexample, a person could enter the location and inquire about the use ofa facility, and be given a printed QR code on a receipt or card.Printing the access code might cause the user to be placed in the queue,and a display near the facility could represent the queue with a firsticon for users who have checked in via a user device (100), and a secondicon for users who have checked in by being given a printer code, withthe second icon also identifying by a unique number or identifier whereeach printed code user is within the queue.

If automatic access is possible (514), the user may enable and accessthe facility (516) without the assistance of a vendor employee. The usermay enable and access the facility by an interaction with an interfaceof the user device (100) such as is shown in FIG. 13, or may place theuser device (100) within a configured proximity of the facility controlpanel (204), which may sense the proximity of the user device (100)using a technology such as RFID, Bluetooth, NFC, or Wi-Fi, and mayautomatically enable and allow access to the facility (516). Automaticentry may include, for example, a hands free access by displaying a QRcode, barcode, or other unique visual identifier on the user device(100) that may then be scanned or read by an access device (204) such asa scanner, an NFC chip or other short range wireless communicationdevice on the user device (100) that exchanges information with anaccess device (204) such as an NFC receiver, Bluetooth receiver, orother wireless communication receiver, or a user interface element (916)such as that shown in FIG. 13 that, when interacted with, may cause theuser device (100) to send a signal via a wireless communication thatwill cause the facility to become accessible. Once the facility has beenenabled and made accessible, by a manual or automatic process, the usermay enter the facility. In some versions, the facility becomesautomatically accessible by a barrier (e.g., door) becomingautomatically unlocked. In addition, or in the alternative, the facilitymay become automatically accessible by the barrier (e.g., door)automatically opening. Various suitable components that may be used toautomatically unlock and/or open a barrier will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein.

Turning now to FIG. 6, that figure shows a flowchart of a more detailedset of steps that a system could perform to allow a user to interactwith a facility (306). As a use enters, a motion sensor (208) may detecttheir presence enable lighting (600) and any other devices that are notconfigured to be enabled when the facility is first accessed. Enteringthe facility may also cause the user device (100) to display a facilityinterface (602), such as the ones shown in FIGS. 14-16, where the usermay interact with various features of the facility and provide feedbackand notifications of the quality and usability of the facility. Facilityinteraction features available in some facilities may include automatedexiting of the facility (604), automated securing of the facility duringuse (608), accepting offers or promotions (612), providing feedback(616), as well as automated controls for devices within the facilitysuch as volume controls for audio and video devices and similarfunctionality.

If a user chooses to exit the facility (604), a communication may begenerated from the user device (100) and communicated to the cloudcontrol platform (110) and then to access control (210), or alternately,from the user device (100) directly to a facility device (212) or accesscontrol (210) via Bluetooth, NFC, or another communication. When a userchooses to exit the facility (604), a number of actions may be triggered(606), such as unlatching of the door lock (202), activating of the dooropener (200), disabling of lights and devices (216), monitoring via themotion detector (208) to confirm vacancy, latching the door lock (202)to secure the facility, and a notification to both the vendor, via thefacility devices (212), and the next user in the queue that the facilityis now available. If a user chooses to secure the facility (608) whileinside, the automatic lock (202) may latch to secure the facility door(206), and a signal light may activate to let those outside the facilitythat it is in use.

While inside the facility, certain offers may be available via video oraudio devices offering products and services, or via a wall unit orkiosk offering promotional products and samples. If a user chooses toaccept an offer (612), the user may, via a user device (100) or viadirect interaction with a kiosk or wall unit, receive a product, productsample, or service. For example, a kiosk or wall mounted unit mightdispense a hand sanitizer, mouthwash, chewing gum, food, cleaningsupply, pain reliever, drink, coupon or voucher for services, or othersuch item when interacted with directly or via the user device (100).Accepting (612) and receiving (614) an offer might result in a user'sinformation being shared with a vendor, partner, or other third party,with notice of such information sharing being provided during acceptanceof the offer or during registration with the system. Other deviceinteractions might include muting an audio or video device, causing anaudio or video device to change the currently presented material,accepting an offer or requesting more information on the materialpresented by an audio or video device, changing the temperature of airconditioning or heating, turning a vacuum cleaner on or off, configuringspray options for a manual or automatic car wash, or other similarinteractions where a user may want to activate, deactivate, or modifythe characteristics of a device available within the facility.

While using the facility, or upon exiting the facility, a user maychoose to provide feedback (616) via an interface such as that shown inFIG. 16. Provided feedback is received by the system (618), and sharedwith facility maintenance providers and system administrators in orderto address issues in maintenance, service, cleanliness, and general usersatisfaction. While in some embodiments such feedback may only beavailable to facility owners and system administrators, receivedfeedback (618) may also be aggregated and provided to other users viaone or more interfaces to aid in their choice of a facility. Otherfacility interactions may occur, depending upon the particular facilityand installation environment as well as the configured devices andfeatures.

Turning now to FIG. 7, that figure shows a flowchart of a set of stepsthat a system could perform to allow a facility owner to manage aspectsof the disclosed system via one or more facility devices (212). Facilitydevices (212) may be protected by a facility user login (700) andauthentication process to verify that a facility user is authorized bythe cloud control platform (110) to manage a facility. Once a user hasbeen authorized (700) as a facility user, a facility managementinterface may be displayed (702) via the facility device (212). Thefacility management may perform ongoing monitoring (704) ofcommunications received from access control (210) and the cloud controlplatform (110). For example, as the facility queue is updated by userschecking in, accessing, and exiting the facility, a queue status may bedisplayed (706) showing how many users are in queue, whether thefacility is currently in use, or estimating arrival times for userstraveling towards the location. The cloud control platform may alsogenerate communications concerning maintenance, technical issues, orservice issues which may be displayed as system notifications via thefacility devices (212). For example, if user feedback indicates that adevice or fixture within the facility is broken, or that a cleaningcheck or supply check is due, a notification may be generated by thecloud control platform (110) and delivered to the facility devices (212)so that it can be addressed on site. Device configuration, software, andother settings may also need to be changed on site, and displayednotifications (708) could provide instructions to vendor employees toperform tasks to aid this process. Service alerts and news may also bedelivered via displayed notifications (708), such as warnings of abusesof the system or service, guidance on interacting with users, and otherhelpful information that needs to be distributed and acknowledged byfacility employees and owners.

In addition to monitoring (704), the facility interface may also be usedto perform a variety of system management functions applicable to aparticular facility, or set of facilities. For example, management ofthe facilities maintenance needs and tasks (710) can be performed viathe facility interface. The facility device (212) may be enabled forimage capture, allowing images that verify a recently performedmaintenance task or verify damage that a user caused to a facility to besubmitted via facility maintenance management (710). Maintenancechecklists may be viewed and managed via the facility device (212), andmay guide cleaners through the required tasks, requesting an image beprovided at each step. Training videos may be viewable showing propermaintenance and cleaning procedures. Maintenance and cleaning FAQ's maybe provided and viewable, to assist with necessary tasks. Maintenancetickets may also be created, managed, and submitted to the cloud controlplatform (110) when maintenance needs are beyond that provided by thefacility host, such as severely damaged fixtures that need replacement.In versions where the facility device (212) receives identifyinginformation for the facility worker who is completing the maintenancechecklist (e.g., through a user log on routine, etc.), the system mayautomatically search for and detect trends in negative user ratings ofthe facility (as described above) and use such trends as a basis forflagging a facility worker with an unusually high association betweentheir facility maintenance routines and negative user ratings. In otherwords, the system can detect facility workers who do not seem tofaithfully observe the maintenance checklist, based on trends in userreview data. The facility operator may use this information to takeappropriate action with such facility workers.

A tool for management of facility branding and marketing (712) may alsobe provided and accessible from the facility interface. Branding tasksperformed through such a tool may include downloading, configuring, andapproving branding images, text, and other media from the cloud controlplatform (110) to be displayed on facility devices (212) and distributedto user devices (100), as well as controlling system messaging for whena facility is out of order or experiencing high occupancy. Marketingtasks performed through such a tool may include downloading, configuringand approving marketing text, images, and other media from the cloudcontrol platform (110) to be displayed on facility devices (212) anddistributed to user devices (100). Marketing tasks may also includeconfiguring special offers of vendor goods and services available forpre-order or acceptance at a location while visiting a facility, andconfiguration of partner marketing to cross promote vendors, forexample, when products and services are complementary and non-competing,in order to drive business between vendors that host facilities andprovide additional incentives to participate in the system.

Facility devices (212) may be implemented with additional features. Onesuch additional feature might be to allow a facility worker to use thefacility device (212) to manually manage the queue for that facility.This could include, in addition to manually adding a person to the queue(512) as described above, removing users from the queue or reorderingthe queue. Manual removal and reordering could be useful to allowfacility staff to address abuse of the system or intentionalmanipulation of the queue, allowing users to jump to the front of thequeue in case of an emergency, or allowing a user to leave the locationbriefly and return to use the facility at a later time. When a person isremoved from the queue they may receive a notification via their userdevice (100) as well as a brief explanation for the reason of theirremoval. When the queue is reordered, all users in the queue may receivea notification and brief explanation via their user devices (100). Suchfeatures may additionally have audit tracking of their use, which couldinclude identifying a user of the facility device (212) by an employeeidentifier or user facing a camera at the time that the feature is used,or by requiring a challenge code or password that is unique to eachfacility staff member. If audit information indicates an unusually highlevel of queue manipulation by a particular facility staff member,system administrators or facility managers may be notified of the userand audit information that appears to be irregular, so that any abuse ofqueue reordering features can be addressed.

In addition to allowing manual queue management via a facility device(212), some versions of the disclosed technology may allow queuemanagement by two or more end-users via user devices. In this manner,the order of users within the queue may be dynamically rearranged basedon events and interactions between the two or more end-users. In somesuch versions, administrators or staff of a private facility coulddelegate part or all of the organization of the queue to end-users andreduce the burden of manual line management activities on the facilitystaff or administrators. For an example of how such features may beimplemented, if a user within the queue requests high priority access toa facility or resource, a notification or message may be sent from thatuser to all other users ahead of that user in the queue via their userdevices, requesting that the receiving users either exchange places inline with the requesting user, or otherwise move behind the requestinguser in the queue so that the requesting user may access the facility orresource as soon as possible. Such a message or notification may be inthe form of a standard and non-configurable message describing a genericemergency or need for high priority access; or might allow for partiallyor completely user configured message content that could be sent toother users while maintaining each user's individual anonymity.

Operating in this manner, user collaborative queue management can allowtwo or more end-users to replicate via the disclosed technology thehighly contextual interpersonal interactions that occur when members ofa physical queue offer someone else their spot in line, perhaps becausethey have small children, or are only purchasing a few items, orotherwise seem to be in a hurry. Such user collaborative queuemanagement could be paired with features allowing a user who sacrificestheir position in line to receive some reward or incentive for doing so,and could include, for example, the purchase of goods (e.g. a coupon orvoucher for coffee or food item) for the sacrificing user, a monetarydonation to the sacrificing user, or a virtual currency or virtual pointgrant to the sacrificing user.

Another feature available via the facility device (212) may be to take afacility offline, in case the location in which the facility is locatedis closed for any reason, or in case there is maintenance needed for thefacility before it can be used, or for any other reason in which alocation, such as a restaurant or coffee shop, might want to temporarilydisable use of their facility by users of the system. When facilitydevice (212) is used to disable a facility, any users queued for thatfacility may receive a notification via their user device (100) that thefacility is no longer available, and may be given the option to bequeued at a nearby location in a manner that will preserve their currentestimated wait time as closely as possible.

Another feature available via the facility device (212) may be to flagone or more users as being related to an incidence of damage orvandalism to a facility. For example, where a user of the facilityreports graffiti, unreasonable damage, or intentional damage to afacility, a facility staff may use the facility device (212) to reportthe damage and flag one or more users of the facility that might beresponsible. This could be the most recent user before the reportinguser, the most recent five users, every user in the past 12 hours, oranother desired block of users. The user report may be submitted alongwith digital images of the vandalism or damage. Flagged users andassociated images may be stored in the cloud control platform (110) andmay be analyzed over time, such that if a user is identified on severaloccasions as being a recent user of a facility that was damaged orvandalized, or if images of the vandalism or damage show similar damageon two occasions in which one user is present for both, that user mayhave their membership in the program revoked to prevent further facilityaccess.

A tool for managing access control (714) may also be provided andaccessible from the facility interface. Tasks performed through theaccess control (714) tool may include temporarily changing the privatefacility into a public mode, whereby it would remain accessible for anyuser, unlocking, opening, and enabling the devices of a facility for aone time use, activating a card or device granting a limited number ofuses or a limited time period of use, and other tasks that may allow thefacility employees to maintain normal control over the access of thefacility to address situations that may arise. This could be usefulwhere a consumer of the vendor who is not a member of the service needsaccess to the facility, or where technical difficulties with a userdevice (100) or other device are preventing normal entry methods fromworking. A tool for managing a facility account (716) may also beprovided via the facility interface, allowing a facility user to enableor disable the service, configure facility specific options, configureoptions to increase or decrease the rate at which they appear in usersearches, and other facility level changes.

Turning now to FIG. 8, that figure shows a flowchart of a set of stepsthat a system could perform to allow a system administrator to manageaspects of the disclosed system via the cloud computing platform (110).Administrator level management is controlled by a login (800) andauthentication process. Once authorized, an administrator interface maybe displayed (802) for an administrator user, allowing the user tomanage facility configurations (804), manage platform configurations(806), and manage customer configurations (808). A tool for managingfacility configuration (804) may include tools for managing the softwareand database configuration of new facilities, removing facilities,modifying facilities, adding, removing, and modifying devices at aparticular facility, generating and distributing communications to oneor more facilities, monitoring and generating alerts for one or morefacilities, viewing aggregated records of completed and pendingmaintenance tasks for one or more facilities, and viewing the status ofqueues at one or more facilities.

A tool for managing platform configuration (806) may include tools forconfiguring pricing plans, configuring and managing various user roles,such as facility employee, facility manager, facility owner, mobileuser, and others, and managing credentials and permission levels forvarious users and user roles so that functionality within the system canbe exposed or limited as needed, managing high level queueconfigurations such as time estimates per person in queue, queuethresholds for refusing additional users entry, facility entry timeouts, and other high level configurations that may be applied tofacilities by city or region, configuration of event monitoring tocontrol what events are delivered to users and facilities asnotifications, and workflow configuration for tasks performed byadministrators and facility personnel.

A tool for managing customer configuration (808) may include tools forcreating, modifying, and removing customer accounts and information,creating and modifying customer subscription plans for users andfacility users, and managing, processing, and reviewing payments byusers, facility users, marketing partners, and others consuming orcontributing goods, services, and other components to the system.

While some of the techniques discussed above may require or benefit froma mobile data technology such as 3G or 4G wireless data transmission, itshould be understood that the technology and processes can also beperformed by a user device that is “offline” or that can only accessonline resources via a Wi-Fi hotspot with some slight modifications.This could be useful for situations where a user is a visitor fromanother region or country and may not have reliable or usable mobiledata capabilities within the area they are visiting. In such asituation, an offline mode may be enabled where the mobile service (102)will provide a set of offline data to the user device (100) for one ormore cities, states, or regions. The set of offline data may be a fileor series of files that contain information that will allow the userdevice (100) to search for and identify facilities, as shown in FIGS.10-11, without requiring any exchange of data between the cloud controlplatform (110) and the user device (100) beyond the transmission of theset of offline data. Depending upon the capabilities of the user device(100), the user experience may be very similar to the normal userexperience, but may lack real time information from the cloud controlplatform (110) such as current queue depth (906). For instance, in an“offline” mode, the user device (100) may show the user the locations ofassociated facilities on a map, but not show real-time information suchas the number of other users that are already currently in the queue foreach facility on the map.

When in “offline” mode, the user device (100) may determine based uponGPS coordinates, if available for that user device (100) without a dataconnection, or based upon a user input, when the user has arrived at thefacility. Upon arrival, the user device (100) may prompt the user toconnect to a local facility Wi-Fi connection, which may then allow theuser device (100) to complete check in (408) and reserve a queueposition (410), as well as receive updates (506) on queue status andother features that may not be available in “offline” mode without thelocal Wi-Fi connection.

III. Exemplary Methods for Pre-Authorizing Access to a Secured Location

The configuration of devices shown in FIG. 2 may be used in other accesscontrol situations with some modifications. For example, FIG. 17 shows aset of steps that could be performed by a system such as that shown inFIG. 2. In such an embodiment, the facility door (206) may be a roomentry door, a storage closet door, a storage locker or chest door, or asimilar access controlled compartment, room, or device. Thisconfiguration could be useful to allow an authorized user to access asecured room or storage, such as an employee accessing a secured storageroom or break room, a restaurant manager accessing a secured manager'soffice, or a doctor or nurse accessing a pharmaceutical storage area.

Initially, the employee or other party that is to be granted access mayconfigure a device, such as a smart phone, tablet, or other personalelectronic device (100) to access or execute the mobile service (102).This configured device (100) may be the individual's personal device ormay be a device provided by the employer or administrator of the securedarea. Configuration of the mobile service (1700) may also includeregistration of the user with the mobile service (102), configuration ofadditional passwords or security challenges to access the mobile service(102), and creation of user accounts and records on a server (214). Anemployer or administrator may also configure access rights (1702) forthe recently created or configured user. Configuration of access rightscould include granting the user account access to one or more securedlocations, configuring times, days, or other situations in which accessmay be conditionally granted to one or more locations, configuringwhether requests for access from the user must be reviewed before accessis granted, configuring the maximum number of times that access may begranted each day, week, month, or other time period, and other suchlimitations.

With a properly configured user device (100), a user may request accessto a secured location by interacting with an access panel (204) via anoptical identifier such as a QR code or barcode presented via thedisplay of a user device (100), transmitting a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,infrared, or other wireless signal, by selecting the location from aninterface of the user device (100), or another method of indicatingaccess to a particular location that is controlled by the system. Thisaccess request is received (1704) by the system and the requested accessis verified (1706), which could include verifying that the configuredaccess rights authorize the user for access to the particular location;and that no other conditional restrictions apply, such as time or daterestrictions.

If the user is not authorized for the location under any conditions orunder the particular conditions of that request (1706), the system willrefuse access (1708) to the requester and the secured compartment orroom will remain locked and inaccessible. The system may additionallylog the access attempt (1712), which may include creating a record ofthe request, including the requesting user, whether the request wasgranted, what conditions the request was made under, GPS location datafrom the user device (100) from which the request originated, and/orcamera images, video, and audio from a camera located proximate to theaccess panel (204) or the secured area (206), which may provide visualdocumentation of the requester's presence. If the requested access canbe verified (1706), such as where, under the access rights, the user isgranted unconditional access to the location or is not in violation ofany conditional access rights, the system may grant access (1710) to therequester by unlocking, opening, or enabling the secured area or devicefor a period of time. Even when the access request is granted (1710),the system may log (1712) information and images relating to the accessattempt to allow for later analysis.

IV. Exemplary Method for Managing Visitor and Guest Access

FIG. 18 shows an alternate embodiment of set of steps that could beperformed by a system such as that shown in FIG. 2. In such anembodiment, the facility door (206) may be an elevator, a securityturnstile or door, or another access point to a private business. FIG.18 shows a set of exemplary steps that could be performed to allow aguest or visitor to access the private business. Initially, the systemwill receive visit information (1800) that includes the identity andcontact information for a person that will visit the private business,as well as the time and date of the visit, information that may commonlybe available in an electronic calendar entry or electronic emailinvitation. To the extent that the visitor is only invited to visit aparticular area of the private business, the visit information mayindicate the limited area associated with the visitor.

The system may generate and transmit a visit package (1802) to thevisitor via an email address, telephone number, and/or other point ofcontact. The visit package may include typical information that would bepresent in a meeting or appointment confirmation, but may also includedata that may be used to interface with the secure access system of FIG.2. The additional data may be an attached application or a link to anapplication that will allow the user to configure a user device (100) toaccess or execute the mobile service (102), a visual identifier such asa QR code or barcode, or unique key data that could be transmitted viaNFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other wireless signal to provide a uniqueidentifier of the user that is requesting access. The additionalinformation contained in the visit package may be installed or retainedon the user device (100) of the visitor until the time of theappointment.

When the date and time of the appointment nears, the visitor may proceedto the location of the private business. For embodiments that allow thevisitor to install an application for the mobile service (102), theapplication may provide additional features such as GPS guidance to theprivate business, parking suggestions or information, traffic warningsand rerouting information, changes to the appointment time and location.The system may also provide information to administrators at the privatebusiness such as the visitor's estimated arrival time, indications thatthe user may be late or may need to reschedule, and similar information,based on GPS data from the visitor's user device (100).

When the visitor arrives at the private business location, the systemmay identify the arrival of the visitor (1804) based upon GPSinformation from the user device (100), or RFID, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC,or other limited range wireless connection or beacon detection. Asanother example, the private business may have an optical reader thatscans a QR code or other optical code on the visitor's user device(100), with the QR code or other optical code having been sent to thevisitor as part of the visit package (1802) referred to above. Afterarrival (1804), the visit may be verified (1806) to ensure that the useror visitor has arrived within a date and time window that they havereceived an invitation for from the private business. If the visitcannot be verified, the system may warn the visitor (1808) that they arenot scheduled to visit the private business that day, and that they maywish to leave and return at their scheduled time or contact the hostthat invited them to reschedule.

Whether the visitor is verified or not (1806), the system will notifythe host (1810) of the visitor's arrival, any appointments that thevisitor is associated with, whether the visitor was verified or not; andmay additionally provide images, audio, or video from a camera or otherdevice proximate to the lobby or waiting area at which the visitor iswaiting. The host may review the host notification (1810) and decide togrant or deny (1812) the visitor access to the private business. If thesystem receives an indication from the host that the visitor has beendenied access (1814) for any reason, the facility door (206) will remainlocked and the visitor may receive a notification via the user device(100) that access has been denied, as well as an indication for whyaccess was denied and contact information for a host or otheradministrator of the private business. If access is granted (1816), thesystem may provide a notification to the visitor indicating that theyshould proceed to a certain door, elevator, or office, and unlock andopen a door or send an elevator to allow the visitor access to theprivate business. After granting access (1816), the system may continueto track the location of the visitor based on GPS data from thevisitor's user device (100), using beacons located within the privatebusiness, and/or using other techniques, to ensure that the visitorstays within areas commensurate with the scope of the visitor'sinvitation. In the event that the system detects that the visitor hastraveled to an area of the private business that is outside of the scopeof the visitor's invitation, the business may provide a warning to thevisitor (e.g., via an automated phone call, an automated text message,etc.) and/or provide notification to personnel associated with theprivate business.

The system described in FIG. 18 could be useful for visitors coming to aprivate business for job interviews, business negotiations orpresentations, tours, providing services or repairs, or other similarreasons where a visitor may be granted controlled, one-time access to aprivate business. The system provides utility to both visitor and hostby allowing each party to determine the status of the other, such aswhether a party is running late or needs to reschedule, without thenecessity of constant contact via phone or email.

V. System and Method for Managing Parking Facility Access

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary alternate configuration of devices that maybe used to control access to a secured parking facility. Similar to thesystem shown in FIG. 2, the system of FIG. 19 additionally may have oneor more entry gates (220) that are automated to open or close to allowor prevent entry into the parking facility in response to a signalreceived from the access control device (210). Additionally, the parkingfacility may have one or more of a set of floor cameras (222) and/or aset of spot beacons (224). Cameras (222) and/or beacons (224) may beused to monitor availability of parking spots within the parkingfacility as will be described in greater detail below. In addition, orin the alternative, cameras (222) and/or beacons (224) may be used tomonitor the location of user vehicles within the parking facility aswill also be described in greater detail below.

The set of floor cameras (222) may be spread across the parking facilityand focused so that a number of parking spots are within the field ofview of each camera of the set of floor cameras (222). Image and videodata captured by the set of floor cameras (222) is received by theserver (214) and used to generate and maintain parking spot availabilitylists. For example, if a single camera has 10 spots within its field ofview, the server (214) may be configured to compare current sets ofimaging data generated by the camera to sets of imaging data generatedwhen the spots were vacant. By detecting the difference in the resultingimage and comparing to a vacant spot, the server (214) is able todetermine if the parking spot is vacant or not. In some versions, floorcameras (222) may be used to determine the vacancy of parking spots on agranular basis, such that the server (214) can specifically identifyindividual parking spots as being vacant or not. In some other versions,floor cameras (222) may be used to determine general vacancy of parkingspots without necessarily achieving granularity. In some such versions,the server (214) can identify specific floors or other sub-regionswithin a parking facility that have greater vacancy than others, withoutnecessarily specifically identifying individual parking spots as beingvacant or not.

The set of spot beacons (224) may provide a similar functionality ofdetermining whether a spot is vacant or not, and in some casesdetermining if a person having a user device (100) is proximate to aparking spot. A spot beacon (224) may have one or more sensors orfunctionalities such as a photo eye, laser break beam sensor, weightsensor, motion sensor, audio sensor, radar, and/or other sensor that maydetect the presence or absence of physical characteristics of thesurrounding area. The set of spot beacons (224) may be deployed aroundthe parking facility such that each spot beacon detects characteristicsof one or more individual parking spots. Data generated from the set ofspot beacons (224) is reported to the server (214) and used to maintaina list of parking spots and whether they are vacant or not. Configuredin this manner, server (214) may use one or more of the above describedtechnologies to determine at any given time a set of vacant parkingspots and a set of filled parking spots. While the foregoing exampleprovides a capability of specifically identifying individual parkingspots as being vacant or not based on data from spot beacons (224), notall versions will necessarily have to provide such granularity ofinformation. For instance, as noted above with respect to data fromcameras (222), some versions of the system may only identify specificfloors or other sub-regions within a parking facility that have greatervacancy than others based on data from spot beacons (224), withoutnecessarily specifically identifying individual parking spots as beingvacant or not

FIG. 20 shows an example of a set of steps that a system, such as thatshown in FIG. 19, could perform to allow automated entry and exit to asecured parking facility. The user device (100) may transmit a requestfor entry to the parking facility via the mobile service (102)—eitherfrom a location remote to the parking facility, so that access can berequested from the facility before arrival. For instance, the user maytransmit the request via a smartphone application installed on the userdevice (100), via a website, or in some other fashion, from a locationthat is in, near, or remote from the parking facility. Alternatively,the user device (100) may transmit the request for entry at the gate(220). As with other disclosed methods, this could be accomplished via amobile data connection through server (214); or by an optical orwireless data exchange such as QR code, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, orsimilar technologies. Once the system receives the access request(2000), the system then queries a constantly maintained list of vacantparking spots to determine if there is a vacant parking spot available(2002).

If there is no vacant parking spot available (2002), the user requestmay be placed into a queue (2004) so that they may be notified if avacant spot becomes available. If there is a vacant spot, the systemwill grant access (2006) to the user through the entry gate (220). Byway of example only, in some versions the user may present a QR code orother code to an optical reader provided through access panel (204) atthe gate (220). Alternatively, the user may place their user device(100) next to an NFC reader provided through access panel (204) at thegate (220), such that the reader can read an NFC chip installed in theuser device (100). As another merely illustrative alternative, thesystem may detect the presence of the user at the gate (220) based ongeolocation information. Such geolocation information may be obtainedusing data from the GPS of the user device (100), using data frombeacons (224) within the parking facility, using cameras (222) withinthe parking facility, and/or using other hardware, etc. As yet anothermerely illustrative alternative, the user may request access via themobile service (102) or otherwise indicate that they are present atentry gate (220) and ready to enter the parking facility.

After the user enters the parking facility via the entry gate (220), thesystem may send location information (2008) to the user indicating afloor, a specific parking spot, or both that the user should proceed toin order to park their vehicle. It should be understood that the levelof granularity in the location information (2008) (e.g., specificindividual parking spot, specific floor of the parking facility, generalzone within the parking facility, etc.) may be dependent on the dataresolution obtainable through cameras (222) and/or beacons (224) asnoted above.

In versions where the system has a data granularity permittingidentification of specific individual parking spots, after sending thelocation information (2008), the system may update the list of vacantspots maintained on server (214) so that the spot recommended in thelocation information (2008) may be considered filled for a period oftime, to give the user time to find and park in the spot before it isreassigned. Thus, to the extent that the system recommends a particularparking spot for a user, the system will refrain from recommending thesame particular parking spot for a subsequent user, at least until thesystem confirms that the first user has either chosen a differentparking spot or is otherwise not using that particular recommendedparking spot as described below.

If, after assigning a parking spot via the location information (2008),the system determines that the assigned location has been filled (2010)via information received from a camera (222) or beacon (224), the systemwill determine if the location was filled by the user to whom it wasassigned (2012). This may be determined by, for example, transmitting aninquiry to the user when it is determined that the location was filled(2010), and receiving confirmation back from the user; or by detecting aunique signature of the user device (100) via a beacon (224); or bysimilar means. If the location is filled (2010) by someone other thanthe user, the system will send a new set of location information (2008)indicating to the user a subsequent vacant spot that may be parked in.

If the location is filled by the requesting user (2012), the system willsend a set of location confirmation information to the user via the userdevice (100) which indicates to the user the floor and spot that theyare parked in, the street address of the parking facility, and mayadditionally provide a captured image of the parking spot taken from acamera (222) if available, to aid the user in later visually identifyingthe area in which they parked. At this point, the user is free to carryabout their business in the area of the parking facility without havingto carry a parking stub or ticket or memorize the address and floor onwhich they parked. The mobile service (102) may provide additionalfunctionality, such as one touch functionality to enable GPS and guidethe user back to the facility in which they parked.

FIG. 21 shows an example of a set of steps that a system (e.g., thesystem of FIG. 19) could perform to guide a user back to their parkingspot and allow them to exit the parking facility. Before a user returnsto the facility (2100), the user may send a status request to the systemvia the user device (100). When received by the system (2102), thesystem will send back to the user a location status update (2104) whichmay include the floor and spot in which they parked, address of thefacility, time at which they parked, and provide a current image oftheir vehicle from the camera (222) where available. When the user hasreturned to the parking facility (2100), either guided by GPS guidanceprovided by the mobile service (102) via the user device (100) or byreturning there unaided, the system will identify the user (2106) viaGPS information provided by the user device (100), by an indication fromthe user via the mobile service (102) that they have returned to thefacility, or by a connection indicating the user's proximity via Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, RFID, or other wireless transmission with a receiver of suchtransmission located at the parking facility.

When the system identifies that the user has returned (2106), the systemwill re-send location information (2108) identifying the floor and spotin which the user has parked. This will aid the user in locating andreturning to their vehicle. After the user returns their vehicle to thegate (220) of the facility, the system may receive an exit request fromthe user device (2110), causing the system to complete the parkingtransaction (2112). The system may receive the exit request from theuser device (2110) in a variety of different ways. For instance, theuser may present a QR code or other code to an optical reader providedthrough access panel (204) at the gate (220). Alternatively, the usermay place their user device (100) next to an NFC reader provided throughaccess panel (204) at the gate (220), such that the reader can read anNFC chip installed in the user device (100). As another merelyillustrative alternative, the system may detect the presence of the userat the gate (220) based on geolocation information. Such geolocationinformation may be obtained using data from the GPS of the user device(100), using data from beacons (224) within the parking facility, usingcameras (222) within the parking facility, and/or using other hardware,etc.

Completing the transaction (2112) may include charging the user'spreviously configured credit card or account for the cost of parking, orapplying the parked time against a prepaid credit or subscription forparking services. After the system completes the transaction (2112), theexit gate (220) is opened allowing the user to exit the parkingfacility.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that some parkingfacilities may be located at least partially underground and/orunderneath large buildings (e.g., skyscrapers), such that it may bedifficult for a user device (100) in the parking facility to receive areliable signal from a cellular tower. To the extent that there aredifficulties establishing connectivity between the user device (100) andthe server (214) in some parking facilities, this may be overcome by,for example, signal boosting equipment; or broadly distributed secureWi-Fi signal connectivity throughout the parking facility, which a userdevice (100) may automatically connect to by way of the mobile service(102). Alternatively, any other suitable hardware configurations and/ortechniques may be used to provide connectivity between the user device(100) and the server (214) in parking facilities where standard cellulardata service may otherwise be difficult to achieve.

VI. Exemplary Combinations

The following examples relate to various non-exhaustive ways in whichthe teachings herein may be combined or applied. It should be understoodthat the following examples are not intended to restrict the coverage ofany claims that may be presented at any time in this application or insubsequent filings of this application. No disclaimer is intended. Thefollowing examples are being provided for nothing more than merelyillustrative purposes. It is contemplated that the various teachingsherein may be arranged and applied in numerous other ways. It is alsocontemplated that some variations may omit certain features referred toin the below examples. Therefore, none of the aspects or featuresreferred to below should be deemed critical unless otherwise explicitlyindicated as such at a later date by the inventors or by a successor ininterest to the inventors. If any claims are presented in thisapplication or in subsequent filings related to this application thatinclude additional features beyond those referred to below, thoseadditional features shall not be presumed to have been added for anyreason relating to patentability.

Example 1

An apparatus comprising: (a) an access control device, wherein theaccess control device is configured to be communicatively coupled withan automatic locking mechanism providing selective access through anentryway at a private facility; (b) a server configured to store afacility queue, wherein the server is communicatively coupled with theaccess control device; and (c) a user interface operable to provide aset of instructions that may be executed by a processor, wherein theuser interface is configured to be installed on a user device; whereinthe server is configured to: (i) receive a user selection indicating auser's intent to access the private facility, (ii) add the user to thefacility queue, (iii) send a facility notification to an administratorof the private facility, the facility notification comprising anindication that the facility queue has changed, (iv) cause the userinterface to display an indicator of the user's position in the facilityqueue, and (v) cause the user interface to display an indicator that theuser is at the front of the facility queue; and wherein the accesscontrol device is configured to: (i) receive an electronic signalindicating that the user is attempting to enter the private facilityfrom the user device, and (ii) if the user is at the front of thefacility queue, disable the automatic locking mechanism.

Example 2

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the server is further configured tocause the user interface to display a set of private facilities and, foreach of the set of private facilities: (i) a location, relative to theuser, and (ii) a distance, relative to the user.

Example 3

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the server is further configured toadd the user to the facility queue in response to receiving anelectronic signal indicating that the user has arrived at the privatefacility.

Example 4

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the facility notification furthercomprises a request that a good or a service be made available to theuser upon arrival at the private facility.

Example 5

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the user interface is furtherconfigured to, in response to an interaction by the user, cause the userdevice to emit the electronic signal indicating that the user isattempting to enter the private facility.

Example 6

The apparatus of Example 5, further comprising an automatic door openerin communication with the access control device, wherein the automaticdoor opener is configured to open the barrier when the automatic lockingmechanism is disabled.

Example 7

The apparatus of Example 6, wherein the access control device is furtherconfigured to receive an electronic signal indicating that the user iswithin the private facility and, in response to the electronic signalindicating that the user is within the private facility: (i) cause theautomatic door opener to close the barrier, and (ii) enable theautomatic locking mechanism.

Example 8

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the access control device is furtherconfigured to receive an electronic signal indicating that the user iswithin the private facility from the user device and, in response to theelectronic signal indicating that the user is within the privatefacility, activate a secondary device.

Example 9

The apparatus of Example 8, wherein the access control device is furtherconfigured to receive a control signal from the user device and, inresponse to the control signal, modify the operation of the secondarydevice.

Example 10

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the access control device is furtherconfigured to: (i) receive an electronic signal indicating that the userhas exited the private facility, and (ii) in response to receiving theelectronic signal indicating that the user has exited the privatefacility, send a feedback notification to the server; and wherein theserver is configured to: (i) in response to receiving the feedbacknotification, cause the user interface to display a request forfeedback, and (ii) receive a feedback response from the user via theuser interface.

Example 11

A method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a user interface thatmay be configured on a user device; (b) receiving, at a server, a userselection indicating a user's intent to access a private facility; (c)adding the user to a facility queue stored on the server; (d) sending afacility notification to an administrator of the private facility, thefacility notification comprising an indication that the facility queuehas changed; (e) causing the user interface to display an indicator ofthe user's position in the facility queue; (f) causing the userinterface to display an indicator that the user is at the front of thefacility queue; (g) receiving, at an access control device from the userdevice, an electronic signal indicating that the user is attempting toenter the private facility; and (h) if the user at the front of thefacility queue, disabling an automatic locking mechanism, wherein theautomatic locking mechanism is configured to prevent a barrier frombeing moved, and wherein the barrier is configured to prevent access tothe private facility.

Example 12

The method of Example 11, further comprising the step of causing theuser interface to: (i) display a set of private facilities, and (ii) foreach of the set of private facilities: (A) a location, relative to theuser, and (B) a distance, relative to the user.

Example 13

The method of Example 11, wherein adding the user to the facility queuecomprises adding the user to the facility queue in response to receivingan electronic signal indicating that the user has arrived at the privatefacility.

Example 14

The method of Example 11, wherein the facility notification furthercomprises a request that a good or service be made available to the userupon arrival at the private facility.

Example 15

The method of Example 11, further comprising the step configuring theuser interface to, in response to an interaction by the user, cause theuser device to emit the electronic signal indicating that the user isattempting to enter the private facility.

Example 16

The method of Example 15, further comprising the step of causing anautomatic door opener to open the barrier when the automatic lockingmechanism is disabled.

Example 17

The method of Example 16, further comprising the step of configuring theaccess control device to: (i) receive an electronic signal indicatingthat the user is within the private facility, and (ii) in response tothe electronic signal indicating that the user is within the privatefacility: (A) cause the automatic door opener to close the barrier, and(B) enable the automatic locking mechanism.

Example 18

The method of Example 11, further comprising the step of configuring theaccess control device to: (i) receive an electronic signal indicatingthat the user is within the private facility from the user device, and(ii) in response to the electronic signal indicating that the user iswithin the private facility, activating a secondary device.

Example 19

The method of Example 18, further comprising the step of configuring theaccess control device to: (i) receive a control signal from the user,device and (ii) in response to the control signal, modify the operationof the secondary device.

Example 20

An apparatus comprising: (a) an automatic locking mechanism at a barrierat a private facility; (b) an access control device communicativelycoupled with the automatic locking mechanism; (c) a facility controldevice communicatively coupled with the access control device; (d) aremote server communicatively coupled with the access control device,the remote server comprising a facility queue for each facility; and (e)a user device communicatively coupled with the remote server; whereinthe user device is configured to: (i) display a set of information for aplurality of private facilities, the set of information comprising, foreach private facility, a location, a distance relative to the userdevice, and an indication of availability, the indication ofavailability based upon a quantity of user reservations within thefacility queue, and (ii) receive a user selection indicating a desire toaccess the private facility and send the user selection to the remoteserver; wherein the remote server is configured to: (A) in response toreceiving the user selection from the user device, add a userreservation to the end of the facility queue associated with the privatefacility, and (B) in response to the user reservation being at the frontof the facility queue, generate an alert via the user device indicatingthat the private facility may be accessed by a user; and wherein theaccess control device is configured to: (I) in response to receiving anindication that the user associated with the user reservation that is atthe top of the facility queue is proximate to the barrier and wishes toenter the private facility, cause the automatic locking mechanism toallow access to the private facility via the barrier, and (II) inresponse to receiving an indication that the user associated with theuser reservation that is at the top of the facility queue has exited theprivate facility, cause the automatic locking mechanism to preventaccess to the private facility via the barrier, and cause the userreservation that is at the top of the facility queue to be removed fromthe queue.

Example 21

An apparatus comprising: (a) an access control device, wherein theaccess control device is configured to be communicatively coupled withan automatic locking mechanism providing selective access through anentryway at a private facility; (b) a server configured to store afacility queue, wherein the server is communicatively coupled with theaccess control device; and (c) a user interface operable to provide aset of instructions that may be executed by a processor, wherein theuser interface is configured to be installed on a user device; whereinthe server is configured to: (i) receive a user selection indicating auser's intent to access the private facility, (ii) add the user to thefacility queue, (iii) send a facility notification to an administratorof the private facility, the facility notification comprising anindication that the facility queue has changed, (iv) cause the userinterface to display an indicator of the user's position in the facilityqueue, and (v) cause the user interface to display an indicator that theuser is at the front of the facility queue; and wherein the accesscontrol device is configured to: (A) receive an electronic signalindicating that the user is attempting to enter the private facility,and (B) if the user is at the front of the facility queue, disable theautomatic locking mechanism.

Example 22

The apparatus of Example 21, wherein the user device is selected fromthe group consisting of: (a) a mobile computing device; (b) a kioskcomputing device; and (c) a point of sale computing device.

Example 23

The apparatus of Example 8, wherein the secondary device is one or moreof: (a) an audio device; (b) a video device; and (c) a vending device.

Example 24

The method of Example 18, wherein the secondary device is one or moreof: (a) an audio device; (b) a video device; and (c) a vending device.

Example 25

An apparatus comprising: (a) an access control device, wherein theaccess control device is configured to be communicatively coupled withan automatic locking mechanism providing selective access through anentryway at a private facility; (b) a server configured to store afacility access list, wherein the server is communicatively coupled withthe access control device; and (c) a user interface operable to providea set of instructions that may be executed by a processor, wherein theuser interface is configured to be installed on a user device; whereinthe server is configured to: (i) receive a user selection indicating auser's intent to access the private facility, and (ii) add the user tothe facility access list, wherein the access control device isconfigured to: (i) receive an electronic signal indicating that the useris attempting to enter the private facility, and (ii) if the facility iscurrently unoccupied, and if the user is contained within the facilityaccess list, disable the automatic locking mechanism.

Example 26

An apparatus comprising: (a) an access control device, wherein theaccess control device is configured to be communicatively coupled withan automated barrier providing selective access to a secured area; (b) aserver configured to store an authorized user list, wherein the serveris communicatively coupled with the access control device; and (c) auser interface operable to provide a set of instructions that may beexecuted by a processor, wherein the user interface is configured to beinstalled on a user device; wherein the server is configured to: (i)receive a user selection indicating a user's intent to access thesecured area, and (ii) determine if the user is authorized to access thesecured area, wherein the access control device is configured to: (i)receive an electronic signal indicating that the user is authorized toaccess the secured area, and (ii) allowing access via the automatedbarrier.

Example 27

The apparatus of Example 26, further comprising a set of parkingsensors, wherein the automated barrier is a parking facility entry gate,and wherein each parking sensor of the set of parking sensors isconfigured to sense the presence of a vehicle in a parking spot, whereinthe server is further configured to: (a) maintain a list of parking spotvacancies based upon a set of sensor information from the set of parkingsensors; (b) identify a vacant spot in response to receiving the userselection; (c) send a description of the vacant spot to the user device.

Example 28

The apparatus of Example 27, wherein the server is further configured toreceive a signal indicating that the user intends to return to theirvehicle and, in response, send the description of the vacant spot to theuser device.

Example 29

The apparatus of Example 26, wherein the user is an employee, whereinthe secured area is a storage area, and wherein the user access isdetermined by verifying that the user is authorized to access thesecured area at that time, date, and location.

Example 30

The apparatus of Example 30, wherein the storage area is a medicinestorage cabinet and the employee is a medical professional.

Example 31

The apparatus of Example 26, wherein the secured area is a corporateoffice, and wherein the automated barrier is an elevator that may beboarded to reach the corporate office, wherein the server is furtherconfigured to: (a) receive a set of visitor data from a host at thecorporate office, the set of visitor data identifying the user as avisitor, and a date and time for a visit; (b) send a meetingconfirmation to the user indicating that they may access the corporateoffice at the date and time for the visit; (c) determine that the userhas arrived at the corporate office and, in response, determine that itis the date and time for the visit; (d) send an entry notification tothe user indicating that they may proceed to the elevator; (e) inresponse to the user arriving at the elevator, allowing the user toaccess the elevator.

Example 32

The apparatus of Example 1, wherein the server is further configured to:(i) receive a priority access request from a requesting user, whereinthe requesting user is present at a first position in the facilityqueue, (ii) provide a request to allow priority access to a set ofqueued users, wherein the set of queued users are also present in thefacility queue, (iii) receive from a granting user, at a second positionin the facility queue, via a granting user device, a priority accessallowed notification, (iv) move the requesting user to the secondposition and the granting user to the first position, and (v) notify therequesting user and the granting user of the change in the facilityqueue; wherein the second position is closer to the front of thefacility queue than the first position.

VII. Miscellaneous

The disclosed system and methods may be implemented in different ways,depending on consumer and partner response, and regional acceptance. Forexample, in some implementations, an end-user may pay a subscription feein order to be able to quickly locate a clean and accessible privatefacility. In other implementations, vendor partners that host a privatefacility may pay a subscription in exchange for customer information andanalytics, and the opportunity to promote their goods and services tousers accessing their facility that might not otherwise be exposed totheir branding and marketing efforts. In some implementations, facilityowners and system owners may share the cost of facility construction, inexchange for the system owner specifying the design, fixtures, anddevices used within the facility. In this manner, a consistentexpectation and experience including branding and marketing messages andimages, as well as color schemes, fixtures, and overall design can bemaintained across a number of facilities regardless a specific vendorhost, leading to an increased user satisfaction and comfort level.

Further variations on, features for, and applications of the inventor'stechnology will be apparent to, and could be practiced without undueexperimentation by, those of ordinary skill in the art in light of thisdisclosure. Accordingly, the protection accorded by this document, or byany related document, should not be limited to the material explicitlydisclosed herein.

For flowcharts or step diagrams that are shown or described as beingserial, it should be understood that the steps may instead be performedin parallel unless such an implementation is specifically disclaimed orinherently impossible due to stated dependencies. Likewise, anyflowchart or step diagram that is shown or described as being parallelmay instead be performed in series or in sequence, unless such animplementation is specifically disclaimed or inherently impossible dueto stated dependencies.

When used in the figures, a “for each” step should be understood tofunction similarly to a for-loop, while-loop, or similar looping logicalstatement wherein contained steps are repeated until the specified setof circumstances occurs. When used in the figures and writtendescription the terms select, selection, selected, and other variationsmay not refer to specific technologies, database syntax, or programminglanguages, and instead refer to a more general process of querying,searching, or identifying a matching or partially matching data set froma larger pool of data.

When used in the written description or claims a “set” should beunderstood to be a collection of zero or more objects, where an objectmay be anything that the set is described as containing or may be a setitself.

When used in the written description or claims, a private facilityshould be understood to mean an area or resource for which there is atleast some restriction on access, use, or both.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus comprising: (a) an access control device,wherein the access control device is configured to be communicativelycoupled with an automatic locking mechanism providing selective accessthrough an entryway at a private facility; (b) a server configured tostore a facility queue, wherein the server is communicatively coupledwith the access control device; and (c) a user interface operable toprovide a set of instructions that is executable by a processor, whereinthe user interface is configured to be installed on a user device;wherein the server is configured to: (i) receive a user selectionindicating a user's intent to access the private facility, (ii) add theuser to the facility queue, (iii) send a facility notification to anadministrator of the private facility, the facility notificationcomprising an indication that the facility queue has changed, (iv) causethe user interface to display an indicator of the user's position in thefacility queue, and (v) cause the user interface to display an indicatorthat the user is at the front of the facility queue; and wherein theaccess control device is configured to: (i) receive an electronic signalindicating that the user is attempting to enter the private facilityfrom the user device, (ii) determine whether the user is physicallypresent at the entryway based upon the electronic signal; and (iii) ifthe user is at the front of the facility queue and physically present atthe entryway, disable the automatic locking mechanism.
 2. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to add the user tothe facility queue in response to receiving an electronic signalindicating that the user has arrived at the private facility.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the user interface is further configuredto, in response to an interaction by the user, cause the user device toemit the electronic signal indicating that the user is attempting toenter the private facility.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising an automatic door opener in communication with the accesscontrol device, wherein the automatic door opener is configured to movethe barrier from a closed position that prevents entry to the privatefacility to an open position that allows entry to the private facilitywhen the automatic locking mechanism is disabled.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein the access control device is further configured toreceive an electronic signal indicating that the user is within theprivate facility and, in response to the electronic signal indicatingthat the user is within the private facility: (i) cause the automaticdoor opener to move the barrier to the closed position that preventsentry, and (ii) enable the automatic locking mechanism.
 6. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the access control device is further configured toreceive an electronic signal indicating that the user is within theprivate facility from the user device and, in response to the electronicsignal indicating that the user is within the private facility, activatea secondary device.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the accesscontrol device is further configured to: (i) receive an electronicsignal indicating that the user has exited the private facility, and(ii) in response to receiving the electronic signal indicating that theuser has exited the private facility, send a feedback notification tothe server; and wherein the server is configured to: (i) in response toreceiving the feedback notification, cause the user interface to displaya request for feedback, and (ii) receive a feedback response from theuser via the user interface.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theserver is further configured to: (i) receive a priority access requestfrom a requesting user, wherein the requesting user is present at afirst position in the facility queue and the priority access requestindicates that the requesting user would like to move forward in thequeue relative to the first position, (ii) provide a request to allowpriority access to a set of queued users, wherein the set of queuedusers are also present in the facility queue and ahead of the requestinguser in the facility queue, (iii) receive from a granting user, at asecond position in the facility queue, via a granting user device, apriority access allowed notification, (iv) move the requesting user tothe second position and the granting user to the first position, and (v)notify the requesting user and the granting user of the change in thefacility queue; wherein the second position is closer to the front ofthe facility queue than the first position.
 9. A method comprising thesteps of: (a) providing a user interface that is configurable on a userdevice; (b) receiving, at a server, a user selection indicating a user'sintent to access a private facility; (c) adding the user to a facilityqueue stored on the server; (d) sending a facility notification to anadministrator of the private facility, the facility notificationcomprising an indication that the facility queue has changed; (e)causing the user interface to display an indicator of the user'sposition in the facility queue; (f) causing the user interface todisplay an indicator that the user is at the front of the facilityqueue; (g) receiving, at an access control device from the user device,an electronic signal indicating that the user is attempting to enter theprivate facility; (h) determine whether the user is physically presentat a barrier of the private facility based upon the electronic signal;and (i) if the user at the front of the facility queue and physicallypresent at the barrier, disabling an automatic locking mechanism,wherein the automatic locking mechanism is configured to prevent thebarrier from being moved, and wherein the barrier is configured toprevent access to the private facility.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising the step of causing the user interface to: (i)display a set of private facilities, and (ii) for each of the set ofprivate facilities: (A) a location, relative to the user, and (B) adistance, relative to the user.
 11. The method of claim 9, whereinadding the user to the facility queue comprises adding the user to thefacility queue in response to receiving an electronic signal indicatingthat the user has arrived at the private facility.
 12. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the facility notification further comprises a requestthat a good or service that is not available within the private facilitybe made available to the user upon arrival at the private facility. 13.The method of claim 9, further comprising the step configuring the userinterface to, in response to an interaction by the user, cause the userdevice to emit the electronic signal indicating that the user isattempting to enter the private facility.
 14. The method of claim 13,further comprising the step of causing an automatic door opener to movea barrier from a closed position that prevents access to the privatefacility to an open position that allows access to the private facilitywhen the automatic locking mechanism is disabled.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising the step of configuring the access controldevice to: (i) receive an electronic signal indicating that the user iswithin the private facility, and (ii) in response to the electronicsignal indicating that the user is within the private facility: (A)cause the automatic door opener to move the barrier to the openposition, and (B) enable the automatic locking mechanism.
 16. Anapparatus comprising: (a) an access control device, wherein the accesscontrol device is configured to be communicatively coupled with anautomated barrier providing selective access to a secured area; (b) aserver configured to store an authorized user list, wherein the serveris communicatively coupled with the access control device; and (c) auser interface operable to provide a set of instructions that isexecutable by a processor, wherein the user interface is configured tobe installed on a user device; (d) a set of parking sensors; wherein theautomated barrier is a parking facility entry gate, and wherein eachparking sensor of the set of parking sensors is configured to sense thepresence of a vehicle in the parking spot; wherein the server isconfigured to: (i) receive a user selection indicating a user's intentto access the secured area, and (ii) determine if the user is authorizedto access the secured area, (iii) maintain a list of parking spotvacancies based upon a set of sensor information from the set of parkingsensors; (iv) identify a vacant spot in response to receiving the userselection; (v) send a description of the vacant spot to the user device;wherein the access control device is configured to: (i) receive anelectronic signal indicating that the user is authorized to access thesecured area, and (ii) allowing access via the automated barrier.